Pallikal upsets top-seed; enters Asian Squash final

India squash ace Dipika Pallikal Karthik today stunned top-seed Annie Au of Hong Kong 11-9 7-11 11-7 11-9 to reach the women's singles final of the Asian Squash championship here.

Pallikal took 50 minutes to down the higher-ranked opponent. She started brilliantly against the pre-tournament favourite and took the opening game to lay down the marker.

However, Au came back strongly to claim the second game with a series of impressive stroke-making.

Pallikal seized the initiative from thereon and kept Au off balance by staying aggressive.

The Chennai-based Pallikal closed out the match for a memorable win.

With this victory, Pallikal has posted only her third win over the Hong Kong player, ranked 11th in the world, in 10 meetings.
 

Earlier, men's top-seed Max Lee of Hong Kong ousted third seeded Malaysian Nafiizwan Adnan 12-10 11-6 11-5 in 51 minutes to book his spot in the final.